Response Essay 5: Surveillance

Central argument: Surveillance restrains people from doing the wrong things, but the reason they restrain themselves is for the wrong reason.

We are always put through tests in this world, and we are almost in constant pressure of making decisions. Being a teenager, I feel that it is even harder for us, because this is the time when we are trying to find out who we are, and where our moral beliefs stand. We have to experience things ourselves, so that we learn, and not just be carbon copies of other people. Emrys Westacott talks about how constant surveillance stunts our moral growth. Sure, surveillance helps people make the right choices, but the reason they base that decision on comes from fear, and not moral beliefs.

            There have been a lot of times when I have changed my decision because of someone else. When I make these decisions, it does not come from me, but from the fear of disappointing that person. I have not been in a place where I have been kept under constant surveillance, but I know that that is not the kind of place I would like to be in. When people are watched, they feel the pressure of doing the right thing because they know that they cannot get away with it. Surveillance makes people conscious, and acts a reminder of what they are doing. Surveillance decreases the rate of cheating, crime rates, etc. But, people follow the rules because they are afraid of the consequences they might face if they get caught. When you are under constant surveillance, your freedom is somewhat taken away from you; freedom of making personal decisions. Surveillance stops people from making the wrong decision, but it is fear that compels the person to do good, and not his own moral beliefs.

            Decisions between good and bad should be made from within the person. I believe in God, and I believe that he has given us the knowledge of good and evil for a reason. If surveillance automatically makes those right decisions for us, then there is no need of our conscience. It also stops us from developing our moral beliefs. I am merely a teenager, but I know that fear should not be the reason that compels a person to do good. People should do good things based on what they believe in, and a camera, or people watching you should not influence it. Parents should be able to trust their children’s ability of making decisions, and the children will only learn to make the right decisions if they experience the difficulty between choosing the right or wrong decisions.

            Surveillance works really great to stop people from doing the wrong things, and it is becoming more and more popular in the world. London is covered with cameras, and the whole city is under constant surveillance. Crime rates have reduced because people know that they are being watched, but at the same time, the citizens lose a lot of their privacy, and freedom. The act of doing something good should not be motivated by cameras, but by a personal consciousness of doing what is right.